Crime & Justice

Court upholds California DNA swabs of arrestees

In this file photo, Lily Zimmerman processes blood from a DNA collection kit at California's DNA laboratory in Richmond, Calif., on July 22, 2004. Proposition 69, passed by voters later that year, greatly expanded the collection of DNA samples, not only from convicted criminals but from anyone arrested for an alleged felony starting in 2009.
NOAH BERGER/AP

Paul Elias | AP|March 20, 2014

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld California's law requiring people arrested for felonies to submit samples of their DNA to police.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Thursday said a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding a similar law in Maryland applies to California.

At issue is a law passed by voters in 2004 requiring that all people arrested in California on suspicion of committing a felony supply a DNA sample to police by way of a cheek swab. State Attorney General Kamala Harris and other law enforcement officials say the law is a powerful tool used to solve thousands of "cold cases." The DNA sample is loaded into a state database and compared against samples collected at crime scenes.

The American Civil Liberties Union objects to DNA collection because not all persons arrested are charged and removing the sample from the database is a lengthy and complicated process.

The 9th Circuit appeared ready to strike down the law after hearing a first round of arguments in 2012. But before the 9th Circuit could rule, the U.S. Supreme Court, on a 5-4 vote, upheld a similar — but narrower — law in Maryland.

The high court ruled in the Maryland case that taking a cheek swab for DNA was akin to fingerprinting all those who are arrested and was not overly intrusive.

The ACLU also argued that some California arrestees aren't covered by the high court ruling because Maryland's law is slightly different and covers only burglaries and violent crimes.

The 9th Circuit said that argument needs to be made before a trial court.

ACLU attorney Michael Risher said the legal battle will continue.

"The ACLU lawsuit will continue, and we are determining what those steps will be," Risher said.